Monthly Archives: February 2012

Tonight at Bible study we sang the hymn “Oh How I Love Jesus.”As we sang acapella my thoughts began to wander and I found myself thinking what will it be like when we are seated at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb?

Who will I sit next to?Will it be family or friends that I knew all my life?Or will it be a new friend that I will get to know in eternity?Will we break out into songs of praise and worship with the people seated next to us, giving praise, honor and glory to the Lamb of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Oh How I Love Jesus

By Frederick Whitfield

There is a Name I love to hear,I love to sing its worth;It sounds like music in my ear,The sweetest Name on earth.

Refrain:Oh, how I love Jesus,Oh, how I love Jesus,Oh, how I love Jesus,Because He first loved me!

It tells me of a Savior’s love,Who died to set me free;It tells me of His precious blood,The sinner’s perfect plea.

It tells me of a Father’s smileBeaming upon His child;It cheers me through this little while,Through desert, waste, and wild.

It tells me what my Father hathIn store for every day,And though I tread a darksome path,Yields sunshine all the way.

It tells of One whose loving heartCan feel my deepest woe;Who in each sorrow bears a partThat none can bear below.

It bids my trembling heart rejoice;It dries each rising tear;It tells me, in a “still small voice,”To trust and never fear.

Jesus, the Name I love so well,The Name I love to hear:No saint on earth its worth can tell,No heart conceive how dear.

This Name shall shed its fragrance stillAlong this thorny road,Shall sweetly smooth the rugged hillThat leads me up to God.

And there with all the blood-bought throng,From sin and sorrow free,I’ll sing the new eternal songOf Jesus’ love for me.

Share this:

Like this:

When I first saw this week’s word “Grit” the movie True Grit came to mind.I remember the scene of John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn riding his horse across a meadow with guns blazing.

Grit…now that’s a rather interesting word.

Some people are like gritty sandpaper in my life.God uses them to buff out and polish off some of the rough not so pretty parts of my personality or character.The key is, to having the perspective that God is using them in the middle of those difficult days with difficult people.It doesn’t feel too good, but in retrospect I see how God uses them.

In fact I have one of those sandpaper people in my life right now.I find myself saying, “Lord, I don’t understand?”The other day when I was bemoaning the latest offence the Lord impressed upon me that perhaps I should ask, “Lord, what lesson do You want me to learn in this?”

Before I get too cocky and think too highly of myself, I need to remember thatI may be someone’s gritty, irritating sandpaper person.

Here’s one of the definitions of the word grit:firmness of mind or spirit : unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.

Now I rather like that!I would like it to be said, “Now she displayed a lot of grit.”But I want to be a godly woman of grit.Not one that is self-willed and unyielding, but one who can stand firm because I know my God, who He is and what He can do and because I know Whose I am.

I’ve been the recipient of God’s goodness and grace when He answered my lifelong prayer to be married by bringing Chris Wachtel into my life. God has given me the love of photography, writing and music. How easy it is in my sinful nature to replace God in Whom I delight with the gifts and blessings He bestows upon me.

Whenever I get unbalanced in life and my love for the Lord wanes He has a way of getting my attention. When that happens I remember that I need to guard my heart and keep my mind it stayed on the Lord.

How easy it is to fall into the trap of replacing God with people or things or work, none of which is bad in and of itself. But when taken to excess and when my heart, mind, time, attention and affection is focused on anyone or anything else other than God first, I’ve failed to delight myself in the Lord.

Oh Lord, teach me to guard my heart and keep You first place in my heart, mind and soul.

Share this:

Like this:

When I saw today’s word for Five Minute Friday was trust, I was pleased because that’s a subject I’m familiar with.

I guess I could go into all sorts of reasons psychological and otherwise why trust is hard for me, but at the end of the day I still need to learn to trust.I need to be able to trust people and more importantly I need to trust God.

Obviously, any obstacle to trusting God is within me and not related to God.When I’ve felt it was hard to trust God, it’s not because He’s changed or that He’s not good, or that He has selfish motives behind what He’s doing in my life.

Trusting God has been a twofold process for me.The most important and influential piece that has helped me to trust God more is to know the word of God.To read the Bible on my own, participate in an in-depth study and sit under the teaching of Pastors who are scripturally grounded and unafraid to preach the word, in season and out of season.

In studying the Bible, I see what the Lord does in the lives of other people and what happens when people choose to sin or to remain steadfast and obedient to God.I see the realities of life: sickness, pain, death and sorrow will touch each life and I can be certain that I won’t escape them either.It would be unrealistic to expect that God will or should exempt me from the difficult things of life.

The second thing that has helped me learn to trust is to walk with God over time.I see mercy God’s goodness and faithfulness to me.I see His and compassion even when I don’t deserve it.I reap the consequences of my poor sinful choices and know that my heavenly Father disciplines me.

Trust for me has been both a learning thing and a faith thing.

This post is being linked to Gypsy Mama’s 5-Minute Friday where you simply write for 5 minutes without worrying if it’s right or not. Head on over and give it a try!